Their interrogation after that proceeded smoothly. With the example they showed earlier, the cultivators became as obedient as dogs, answering whatever questions thrown at them. Some, who wanted to preserve their lives, quickly spouted everything before Chen Feng and the others could ask them anything.
The 10 cultivators were from Sword Tower. Sword Tower was an organization on the same level as the Six Great Sky Grottoes. The difference between the two was the sect backing them. Sword Tower"s backer was one of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects of the Northern Plains, Sword Hall.
Sword Hall. Forget the Northern Plains, it was an infamous existence even in all of Eternal World. It possessed a conservative estimate of 500,000 cultivators. Moreover, their sword cultivators were cultivators with the strongest offensive power.
Unyielding, overbearing and wild. The hardest bunch to deal with in the Northern Plains. Those words described the Sword Hall. Even the three most powerful sects, Nine Firmaments Palace, Purple Firmaments Palace and Transcendent Firmaments Palace were unwilling to provoke cultivators from Sword Hall. To use the words exchanged between the cultivators in the cultivation world, those fellows are all crazy.
"Hey, you fellows are merely cultivators from Sword Tower. Although the cultivators from Sword Hall are the overbearing sort, they would never be as arrogant as you fellows. Even more so, they would never attack the moment they appear," Ye Ziming said with a ridiculing tone.
"No matter how you look at it, we can still be considered part of Sword Hall. Are you not afraid of offending Sword Hall?" the cultivator at the storing artefacts in body (3rd) level emboldened himself and said.
"Forget sloppy fellows like you all. Even if cultivators from Sword Hall truly do appear, we will not cower in fear. However, what we are interested in knowing is why you fellows chose to attack us," said Chen Feng with a sinister smile.
"The three of you appeared here all of a sudden. We thought that you three are from Jade Talisman Court. Thus, we tried to capture you fellows," said the cultivator.
"Capture us, you say? The moment you fellows appeared, you displayed the Ten Paths Sword Array. Your sword force was filled with thick killing intent. You fellows clearly intended to kill us off. You don"t even know who you were facing and you decided you want to simply kill us off. You fellows sure are vicious," Ye Ziming chuckled.
"Forget it. Let"s stop exchanging nonsense with them. Let me utilize my soul-searching technique. It"ll save us time," interrupted Chen Feng.
"Mercy! I beg you! I beg you, please don"t use soul-searching techniques on us. We have already told you everything we know!" one of the cultivators hastily cried out.
Although the cultivation bases of all those cultivators were low, they all knew the horror of soul-searching techniques. That was especially true when considering Chen Feng"s amateur status in soul-searching. There was a very high chance of them turning into idiots after that. For cultivators, death was a better alternative to becoming an idiot.
Next, all the cultivators began speaking up, repeating the conflict between Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court to Chen Feng"s group. Hearing their story, the eyes of Chen Feng and the others shone.
"To think that there could be an immortal grotto-mansion of unknown age here. Who knows which ancient immortal had left it behind," said Ye Ziming with a sigh.
"Regardless of which immortal had left it behind, for it to be given the name immortal mansion, it must surely be something else. Even a broken bowl or a water vat from within the place could prove to be some extraordinary item. Besides, for Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court to compete for it, even if it is not a grotto-mansion left behind by an immortal, it should still possess great value. Perhaps, it might contain some Sacred artefacts or Dao artefacts," said Chen Feng.
"I don"t need Sacred artefacts or Dao artefacts. If I can get one or two Prized artefacts from there, I will be satisfied," said Lu Ta with a smile.
"At present, the cultivators from Jade Talisman Court and Sword Tower have discovered this immortal mansion and sealed off all the flow of information regarding this place. I believe that this information will not be leaking out for the time being. We must not tarry and act quickly. Hopefully, we can scoop up some benefits before the others. I am less greedy. As long as we can get a few flying swords or a few bottles of medicinal pills, this will be worth it," said Ye Ziming with a smile.
"What should we do about these fellows? Should we actually kill them off?" asked Chen Feng as he regarded the nine remaining cultivators.
"Don"t kill us. We have already told you everything!" shouted the cultivators.
"We have already leaked out the information. Sword Tower will never forgive us. If you release us, we promise we will not return to Sword Tower. Instead, we will find some place to hide and never re-appear."
"I don"t believe a word you fellows say," said Chen Feng coldly. Next, he entered a deep pondering state.
After some time, Chen Feng"s eyes lit up and soul power suddenly shot out from between his brows. Forming a spiral shape, it drilled its way into one of the cultivator"s mind.
The cultivator was in the midst of shouting when Chen Feng"s soul power drilled into his mind. He immediately fell silent, a blank look in his eyes. He showed no reaction at all, becoming like a vegetable.
The technique that Chen Feng used was one of the magic techniques for soul power recorded within the Longevity Scripture. The name of this technique was Soul Blade. Condensing soul power into a blade to cut into the target"s soul. Thankfully, Chen Feng had condensed out a Soulflame. If not, he could forget about practicing this technique.
The target was merely a cultivator at level 1 of the Concealed stage. Thus, it was easy for Chen Feng to enter his mind. He began searching around.
"Here it is." Finally, Chen Feng"s soul power stopped at a spot within the cultivator"s sea of wisdom. Next, his soul power transformed into a fine and narrow blade, one which exuded a strange aura. This blade was different from the usual tangible blades. It was meant to attack the soul.
Shua!
The Soul Blade swiftly cut a line. The cultivator"s sea of wisdom became like a thin piece of white cloth and was immediately cut in half. Next, the Soul Blade abruptly twisted and the cut portion of the sea of wisdom immediately disappeared.
When Chen Feng"s soul power came out from the cultivator"s mind, the cultivator immediately fainted.
"Just now, I used a secret technique to cut away his memories of what happened today. When he wakes up, he will not remember us at all," said Chen Feng.
"To be able to avoid killing is the best," said Ye Ziming, who nodded his head.
Next, Chen Feng utilized the Soul Blade technique again to cut away and wipe out the memories of the other cultivators.
"Let"s go."
When all the cultivators had fainted, Chen Feng, Ye Ziming and Lu Ta leapt into the sky. They flew by riding on flying swords. Ye Ziming and Lu Ta could fly without borrowing the power of flying swords. However, they chose not to do so in order keep a low profile and save them some trouble.
"It seems my speculation is correct. The Blackwind Marshes lies not far ahead. There is a distance of over 30,000 li between the place and Purplebolt Mountain. There is still an immeasurable distance between the marshes and the edge of the Northern Plains. Still, even though the Blackwind Marshes is a slightly peculiar place, I have never heard anything about an immortal mansion within it," said Ye Ziming as he shook his head (1 li = 0.5 km).
At that moment, Chen Feng was looking through the "Eternal World" book he bought from White Cloud City. It was something that Chen Feng had spent a considerable amount of money to buy. After opening it, he saw the long table of contents listing the introductions and descriptions about this world.
"There is a description of Blackwind Marshes here," Chen Feng suddenly said as he found the page that mentioned Blackwind Marshes.
"Blackwind Marshes, spanning a radius of hundreds of li, its ground is filled with mud, deep in certain areas and shallow in others. Yao beasts move in and out from the place and blade-like astral winds blow through the place. It is a place that only Concealed stage cultivators can enter," Chen Feng slowly read.
"I have only heard about this place. I have not come here before. However, it is said that this place is very dangerous and some Concealed stage cultivators whose cultivation bases were lacking ended up getting cut into pieces by the astral winds inside."
One hour later, the three of them finally found Blackwind Marshes. Even from a distance, they could smell the stench blowing towards them. There were also loud sounds coming from the distance. It was none other than the constantly blowing astral winds within Blackwind Marshes.